Method of and apparatus for dehydrating material



y F. MAUS. METHOD OF AND APPARATUS FOR DEHYDRATING MATERIAL.

7 APPLICATION FILED FEB-3, I921. 1,418,386.

PatentedJune 6, 1922,

' I INVENTOB ATTORNEY y it - To wll'whoim it may concern rials, of

.um'r-en -ST-ATES ,PATENT OFFICE.

FRANK MAUS, 01* ,SAN JOSE, CALIFORNIA, AssIeNon or ONE-HALF 'ro SIEBREN J.)

sP-omsTRA, or sAn JOSE, CALIFORNIA.

mn'rnon on Ann APP RA US-non nEnYnRArrne MATERIAL. Y

Be it known that I, FnnuK MAUS, a citi zen of the United States, and resident of S'an'Jose, in the county of Santa Clara and State of California, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Methodsof and Apparatus' for Dehydrating Matewhich the following is a specification. I

drawn from the atmosphere and thereafter utilized in the manner set forthin'my copending applications for dehydrating apparatus, Serial No; 438713, filed J an. 20, 1921, and method of cooling and dehydrating materials, Serial No. 441608, filed Feb. 1, 1921.

It isthe object of my invention to provide a method yvherein certain classes of materials requiring slow treatment. may be dehydrated at a suitable temperature, and

. hydrator wherein heat introduced into the de by the material ply sensible, heat and latent heat of evaporation.

' vide'a method in which a minimum amount age. A stiILfurther object is 'to provide a 'method in which the material is at oneand the same time subjected to the dehydrating action of dry air and the cooling action of 'cold air, or in which the material is sub'. 'jected to'the dehydratingaction of heated dry air. And, finally, it is an object of the present invention to provide a method of and apparatus for dehydrating mater al in which the airis drawn from 'theatmosphere',

f utilized in the manner hereinafter set forth section through my imp oved' dehydrator, 'part being broken awa to accomplish the desired results and again discharged into the atmosphere. The drawing is a vertical and longitudinal Referring more partlcularly to the'draw ing, I provlde at 1 a heatinsulated tunnel or chamberfitted with doors 2-2 and a track 3 upon which suitable trucks as 4 are mount;

ed carrying trays 5 laden with material such as prunes, etc., to be'drled and cooled;

At 6 is shown a slightly inclined heat 1nitself the carrier therefor is utilized to sup:

It is a.,-further object to pro-- sulated conduit arrangedover tunnel'l and terminating at a point intermediate the length of tunnel 1 as at air, inlet said tunnel having an alr-discharge outlet at ,7 into 'a conduit 7 Conduit 7 isjpreferably-arranged in axial alignment. with relation to conduit. 6 and terminates at. ap'oint adja'-' 'cent to air inlet 7- forming a dehydration air v outlet as at 7?. a A passage-8 is arranged over This invention relates to a method of. dehydration wherein the air used is chamber 1' and communicates therewith at the end opposite to the outlet 7'a'nd ter Inmates at a pomt 10 adjacent to said passa e 7 A series of heating units as steam ra iato'r's arearranged in passage8 as at 11, a supply plpe being shown at 12.

Over chamber land passage 8 at end 9- .minating in a plate 22 into which are set the ends of pipes 23'.- Pipes23 are arranged to .passthrough' conduits 6 and 7" and extend from pipe 21 to the end .10 of passage 8 with which they communicate through. plate 24 in "which they are mounted.

Assuming .then that the [fan- 18 is operation, ai is drawnfrom the atmosphere lnto the, co duit 6' at end 7, and caused to. circulate through conduit 6, chamber 13, fan 18, pipe 21, pipes 23", conduit 8, chamber 1 and conduit"? to a point of discharge into the atmosphere atlfifi.

In this process-the air is' .drawn from the atmosphere and utilized to raise the temperatureof the dehydration airafter-cooling and drying, and thedehydration air, after passing through chamber 1 is utilized to still further raise the temperature ofthe dried air before it is passed into chamber 1.

T In thisprocess the air is drawn directly from the-atmosphere and carried through conduit 6 to the refrigerator where its moisture is extracted; by the reduction in temperature of the air. In carrying the air to the. dehydration chamber, however, it is passed through conduits 23 so as to pick up heat from the inflowing airk'at atmospheric temperature and from] the air exhausted from the dehydration chamber into conduit 7". The heat absorbed. in this manner may be sufficient to raise the temperature of the inflowing air to a point'approaching the temperature of the exhaust dehydration air, whereupon'it is passed through conduit 8 to the dehydration chamber, the heating elements 11 being used or not as conditions may require. I

As oneexample of the practical application of this process, the materials to be treated are introduced into the dehydration chamber at a lower temperature than that of the inflowing dehydration air. The heated air passing around the said material dr talzes 'up moisture therefrom and passes from the chamber 1 at a point adjacent to the point of entrance of the said material. This exhaust dehydration air is then passed through conduit 7 and around pipes 23 where it surrenders a' large portion of its heat to the air flowing through pipes 23, and is finally discharged into the atmosphere at 7.

As another example of the practical application of this process the materialto be treated is introduced into the dehydration chamber at a higher temperature than that of the inflowing air, the said material and portion of this sensible heat and latent heat of evaporation is, surrendered to the air flowing through pipes 23 in conduit 7P and the exhaust dehydrationair is finally discharged into the atmosphere at 7 The foregoing statement as to reduction of-temperature will not always apply to a material extent of. course, but only when the material. carries a surplus of heat, it being obvious that if the material is insertedat substantially atmospheric temperature its temperature when discharged will be at least 1 -slightly below atmospheric temperature.

.The heating elements are used, of course, only when the cooled and dried air does not absorb enough heat from the inflowing air.

from the atmosphere and the exhaust from the'dehydration chamber to raise the temperature thereof'to the required point, such as when the material to be treated is received in the dehydration chamber directly from a heated dry air dehydrator but doesnot carry a large amount of surplus heat, or when the process is to be operated as aheated dry air dehydrator.

The material treated as above set forth is introduced into chamber 1 at the end thereof opposite tothe dehydration-air inlet and therefor passes through the chamber in an opposite direction to the air flow.

It isto be understood that while I have herein disclosed one specific embodiment of my invention the disclosure is to be considered'as illustrative only and in no way to limit the scope of the appended claims.

'I claim:

1. A dehydration apparatus comprising an air cooling chamber, a dehydration cham her, a conduit communicating with said cooling chamber and the atmosphere, a conduit communicating with said dehydration chamber and the atmosphere, a conduit connecting said chambers and operativel ranged with relation to said first. mentioned conduits to absorb heat from the air passing therethrough, andmeans for causing air to circulate through said conduits and chambers.

2. A'dehydration apparatus comprising an air cooling chamber, a dehydration chamber, a conduit communicating with said cooling chamber and the atmosphere, a conduit com-.

municating with said dehydration chamber and the atmosphere, a conduit connecting said chambers and passing through bothof said firstmentioned conduits, and means for causing air'to circulate through -S3-1d-00Il-' duits and chambers.

3. The process of dehydrating materials in a dehydration chamber which consists in reducing the moisture content of atmospheric air by. cooling the same, and then heating the cooled air before circulating it' around the material to be dried, by. passing the cooled air in heat exchanging, relationship to the inflowing atmospheric air and the outflowing dehydration air.

- 4. The process of dehydrating materials in a dehydration chamber which consists in reducing the moisture content of atmospheric air by cooling the same, and then heating the cooled air before circulating it around the material to be dried, by passing the cooled air in heat exchanging relationship to the inflowing atmospherlc air and the outflowing dehydration air, and then further increasing its temperature by artificial means.v

RANK Mans. 

